Italy says it needs at least 10 years to raise defence spending

ROME (Reuters) -Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday said his country needs at least 10 years to raise defence spending and comply with new targets due to be agreed by NATO, adding that a deal on them could soon be reached.

Italy is one of the defence spending laggards within the Western military alliance, having spent just 1.49% of gross domestic product last year against a current target of 2%, according to NATO data.

Rome has said it would respect the 2% target in 2025, but mainly through a series of accounting changes which add to defence budget calculations items that were previously not included.

"I believe that we can do good work with NATO and arrive at The Hague summit with an agreement ready beforehand, so that NATO can demonstrate its unity," Tajani said speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The alliance leaders will meet in The Hague on June 24-25.

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, speaking in parliament, said it "is not possible" for Italy to meet U.S. requests for NATO allies to hike their defence budgets to 5% of GDP, and said an intermediate target of 3.5% "is not easy".

Italy has limited room for spending, with its massive public debt projected to rise to almost 138% of GDP in 2026 before edging down the following year.

"We are maintaining a conservative stance on the matter because we do not want other key investments, such as those on public health or social spending, to be affected", Crosetto said, adding that every government within NATO would need to discuss defence spending commitments with national parliaments.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante, Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Alvise Armellini and Alistair Bell)